By Usman Usman
Sometime in the year 2014, the security man (Luke) on my cassava farm at Crusher area in Lokoja, Kogi State, put a call to me in Kaduna and the following conversation took place:
Me: Hello Luke
Luke: oga good afternoon sir
Me: what’s the problem?
Luke: oga I don catch one baby cow
Me: baby cow? Why?
Luke: the Fulani man carry hin cow come chop our cassava na in I catch the baby cow
Me: wey the Fulani man now?
Luke: e dey here
Me: what of the baby cow?
Luke: e dey inside
Me: give the Fulani man hin baby cow and tell am say make e no come chop our cassava again if not we go call police to catch am
Luke: ok sir.
And that was the end of the matter. I never heard of any other encounter with any Fulani herdsman on the farm.
Apparently, a Fulani herdsman while letting his cattle graze in the area, encroached on the farm (intentionally or otherwise) and the security man somehow seized one of his calves. If the farm had belonged to Luke and he had insisted on some form of compensation or penalty from the herdsman who may not be able to meet up, the tale may likely take a different twist or dimension. The Fulani herdsman may leave without the calf and return at an unexpected time to take revenge for what he may term unjust seizure of his calf.
The attendant consequences may be injury or even death. This can eventually escalate to a full crisis between the Fulani herdsmen in the area and the host community. This scenario points to the origin and pattern of the conflict between farmers and herdsmen all over the country.
As Boko haram ravaged the North East of the country, the North Central in particular has had to contend with the menace caused by the Fulani herdsmen. Other geopolitical zones have had to contend with cattle rustling and in some cases even kidnapping all attributed to Fulani herdsmen. It could be presumed that clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen occur in an almost equivalent frequency with the Boko haram attacks on targets in the country. These clashes have been occurring long before the Boko haram insurgency yet no tangible policy have come to fore to curtail and prevent future attacks. Wherever such attacks occur, the story is the same: Grazing cattle feeding on farmers crops.
There are some Nigerians who try at all cost to paint the picture of an ethic and religious clash other than what it is, a clash between Fulani Herdsmen and host farming communities. They generally assume that the herdsmen are Fulanis and are therefore Muslims while the farmers are the Christians thereby attempting to change the story line. But the fact remains that while the herdsmen are mostly northerners, not all are Muslims and not all are Fulani while the communities that come under attack can comprise of Muslims and Christians living side by side as is common in the North Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. We must therefore insist on what the clashes are: Herdsmen versus Farmers. To set the records straight, such clashes also occur in the core northern states.
The recent attack by herdsmen on communities in Agatu Local Government area of Benue state and indeed all other attacks are condemnable in every respects and government must, as a matter of urgency, do everything possible to ease the sufferings of the people and prevent future attacks all over the country.
The whole problem in limited my understanding emanates from one word: Encroachment. When there is no encroachment, there will be no clashes. We must first appreciate our “Nigerianess” before we can understand the next few lines.
All Nigerians have a right to live and seek livelihood in any part of the country called Nigeria, this includes the Fulani herdsmen who also contribute their quota towards national stability. In the light of this, the grazing reserves were established first by the British in pre colonial times. According to Ismail Iro in his work ‘Grazing Reserve Development: A Panacea to the Intractable Strife Between Farmers and Herders” A grazing reserve is a piece of land that the government acquires, develops, and releases to the pastoral Fulani. The state and the local governments have gazetted and obtained grazing land varying from fifty to one hundred hectares. The federal government shoulders seventy percent of the burden of developing the grazing reserves, the state governments shoulder twenty percent, and the local government carry ten percent.
The question now is, where are these grazing lands and why are the Fulani herdsmen not utilizing them? The answer may be found in Encroachment. These lands may have been encroached upon by the various state governments and members of the communities thereby dwindling the chances of herdsmen to graze their cattle. This does not justify the encroachment of herdsmen on cultivated farm lands which is in itself, the most common cause of recent clashes.
In an ideal patriotic society, grazing reserves will be established and maintained with the intention to provide and protect green pasture spaces for the Fulani herdsmen. This will further remove the perpetual discord between farmers and pastoralists living in the same geographic area. With this clearly spelt out separation of the herders from the farmers, the government will be fostering peaceful coexistence between them and the grazing reserves will be a no conflict zone in the interest of all. Government can increase revenue by taxing herdsmen who graze in these reserves while penalizing those who graze in unauthorized pastures. With this provision, government can easily obtain statistics about pastoralist and regulate their activities in the overall interest of all.
With time, the Fulani herdsmen should be made to embrace the modern trends in cattle rearing and milk production such as is obtainable in the Haciendas of South America. This will ensure improvements in land use and herd management while at the same time add value to the nation though more employment opportunities. Such grazing reserves automatically becomes the center of pastoral activities with government providing social welfare amenities and agricultural extension programs to the Fulani herdsmen and all those who engage in livestock related businesses. The advantage of such an arrangement is that seasonal and haphazard migration which can lead to conflicts and clashes between the farmers and the herdsmen can be greatly avoided.
Fulani herdsmen in a patriotic society should be the most peaceful and loving people considering their pastoral and near nomadic life styles. Since they are spread all over the country, they have the potential to ensure social cohesion and integration which are badly needed ingredients in our present day Nigeria.
In a patriotic society, the Fulani herdsmen should be the most welcome guest and regarded as a blessing to the community. Anywhere the Fulani herdsman goes with his cattle, he carries there the potential of improving that society. Abattoirs spring up and meat and milk are readily available while the farmer can access manure for his farm produce. Inevitably, markets expand and standards of living improve.
But the Nigerian society cannot be said to be based on Patriotism. It is rather based on ethnocentric and religious stands. Everything is measured, approved or disapproved based on ethnic and religious considerations. We are united only by the geographical boundaries caging us. This accounts for why we hold all others who do not belong to our ethnic or religious grouping as the enemy which is responsible for the high levels of intolerance we hold towards one another. We must discard these differences and adopt patriotism as our bond. That way, the herdsman and the farmer can keep to their limits and live in peace, harmony and unity first, as the Nigerians they now are, then as the tribes they were before the amalgamation.